Globalized energy-water nexus through international trade: The dominant role of non-energy commodities for worldwide energy-related water use

Abstract The increasing energy demand in future will inevitably escalate pressures on water resources, as energy production needs huge amounts of water inputs. Globalization has resulted in the geographic separation between the source of water inputs for energy production and the sink of its final consumption, making it crucial to factor global supply chain effect into water-energy nexus management. Therefore, this paper investigates water use for energy from source of exploitation to sink of final consumption along global supply chains based on embodiment accounting method. In total, the energy-related water use embodied in international trade is in magnitude about 80% of global total energy-related water use in 2011. It should be noted that non-energy commodities contribute more than four fifths of energy-related water use embodied in international trade and global final consumption. China serves the largest exporter of energy-related water use while EU28 is the biggest receiver. From a perspective of global supply chains, two thirds of USA direct energy-related water use sinks into final consumption from rest of the world, and over a quarter of that embodied in Mainland China's final consumption is from USA, showing the tight relation between them on global supply chains. Findings highlight the urgent need to consider international trade (i.e., energy and non-energy commodity trade) and global supply chain effects for water-energy nexus policy-making to ensure the sustainable water supply for energy development.